Ellie’s birthday present from us this year was a dress that I sewed for her. This was the first piece of clothing (other than some simple pants) that I had sewn for her and now I’m hooked! I want to sew all her clothes now. I just need a nanny to watch my kids! 😉
I used the “Family Reunion” pattern from Olive + S and fabric that I bought for Ellie while we were on vacation in Montana. I can’t say enough good things about this pattern. It wasn’t cheap but it taught me so much about dressmaking and was really easy to follow. I now have a whole set of new sewing skills, thanks to this dress!
while eating grapes with Grandpa (Note the red polka dots for the hem facing – love it!!)
I took the rest of these pictures while she was coloring with sidewalk chalk so the pictures aren’t super clear (too much industrious coloring).
The front of the dress has a series of pintuck pleats along with a little placket with four buttons. The pintucks are what attracted me to the pattern first!
pintucks on the back too with a button placket! (Sharp eyes will notice that I still have one buttonhole and button to finish – after she put it on this past Sunday, I just sewed it closed with a couple stitches. I’ll finish it soon!)
It’s hard to see but the hem has six lines of top stitching for detail and to give the hem some weight – I love doing multiple lines of stitching (like on baby blankets or bags).
All in all, this was a super fun project. I stayed up way too late for 3-4 nights to get it done but I’m glad I did! And I’m especially glad she consented to wear it on Sunday for Mark’s baptism (more on that to come). I was afraid she would mutiny!
And yes, about the blog post title – I also did some sewing on this while Ellie was awake because I never would have finished it otherwise. I was trying to be sneaky about it but at one point, she looked at me and said, “Are you sewing a dress for Ellie’s body?” I had to answer, “Yes,” and she just nodded as if to say, “I knew it,” and went back to playing!
The dress looks great on your daughter!
Thank you!
Beautiful little dress. So many great details!
Thanks Mom! That’s why I splurged on the pattern – I loved all those details!
beautiful!!
Thank you, friend!
How precious! My grandmother sewed almost all of my clothes. She kept me in style!!
That’s really cool, Jana! 🙂
When are you opening an Etsy store? Because I want that dress!!!
I wish!! I would love to do that but right now I barely have time to sew even a fraction of what i want to sew for us, much less to sell!
So beautiful, Laura! And so impressive. Wonderful job!
Thank you Joy! 🙂
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